Method of making elastic fabric



June 13, 1939.

T. G. HAWLEY, JR, 2,162,551

METHOD OF MAKING ELASTIC FABRIC Filed Oct. 50, 1955 lllllllll TTORNEYPatented 'June 13, 1939 UNITED STATES 2,162,551 METHOD or MAKING ELASTICFABRIC Thomas G. Hawley, Jr., Naugatuck, Com, assignor, by. mesneassignments, to United States Rubber Company,.New York, N. Y., acorporation of New Jersey Application October .30, 1935, Serial No.47,361

6 Claims.

This invention relates to elastic fabrics and to a method of impartingelastic properties and an ornamental design to textile fabrics.

It has been proposed heretofore to form elastic 5 fabrics fromstretchable textile fabrics by calendering sheet rubber onto a surfaceof knitted or other stretchable fabric, or by treating the fabricsurface with a rubber-containing fluid such as splvent rubber cement ofan aqueous rubber l dispersion such as latex spread or sprayed on thefabric, and when desired the rubber has been sandwiched between plies offabric. The rubber imparts to the fabric the desired quick recovery fromstretched condition and a capacity to re- 15 tract to its originalcondition after being stretched.

It has also been proposed heretofore to act upon knitted goods tostretch it in the direction of the courses and while thus stretchedapply a 2 rubber-containing fluid to the fabric to yieldingly retain itin the stretched condition to thereby increase the property of thefabric to stretch,

in the direction of the wales so as to produce a two-way stretch fabric.

25 The effect of these prior treatments has been to make elasticfabrics, and to increase the property of the fabric to elongate in onedirection with a loss of such property in a direction at right anglesthereto, but such treatments have not 30 served to increase on the wholethe property of a fabric to elongate over that which the textile fabricoriginally possessed before the rubber treatment.

The present invention relates to a method of 35 treating a fabric bycondensing or otherwise distorting the fabric and then securing thefabric normally in this condensed or distorted condition by a deposit orcoating of rubber which permits the fabric to stretch and causes it tocontract.

40 In this manner the fabric may be given a much greater range ofstretch than the range of elongation it possessed before the treatment.

One important feature of the present invention resides in the method ofcondensing or distorting 45 the fabric, which consistsin placing thefabric to be treated on a supporting surface and then exerting a slidingpressure upon the fabric to slide or shift portions thereof so as tomodify the distance between the adjacent rows of threads 50 of thefabric to bring these rows closer togetheror otherwise change theirposition with respect to that which they previously occupied.

The present method may be employed to condense the fabric in thedirection of its length 55 or at various angles thereto. In the firstcase the appearance of the fabric will not be greatly changed exceptthat it will appear more closely formed, but in the second case variousdesigns may be imparted to the fabric while it is being condensed. Forexample, if one transverse por- 5 tion of the fabric is condensed in adirection inclined to the right of the length of the fabric and the nextportion in a direction inclined to the left, the finished fabric willhave a distinct striped appearance which will be retained when iii thefabric is set by the rubber treatment. Various other design effects maybe imparted to the fabric by varying the operation of the fabriccondensing means.

A further important feature of the present method resides in wetting thefabric before it is condensed so as to increase its flexibility andrender it suflicientiy plastic to remain in its condensed conditionuntil it can be set in this condition by the rubber treatment. In thiscase the moisture in the fabric serves as an adhesive to temporarilyhold it in the condensed condition. However, if desired other adhesivesmay be used to retain the fabric condensed until it has been set byspraying or otherwise applying a rubbercontaining fluid thereto.'

The rubber-binding material may be so applied that it will only slightlydiminish the porosity of the original fabric, or if desired it may serveto impart waterproof properties to the fabric.

A fabric when treated in accordance with the present invention will havethe original stretch of the fabric plus the amount it was condensed. Thepresent invention may be employed to greatly increase the stretch of aknitted fabric either longitudinally or transversely and may also beemployed to impart a substantial stretch either longitudinally ortransversely to woven and other fabrics which normally have only a veryslight stretch. It may also be used to impart various 40 pattern ordesign eflects to these fabrics, and these properties may be imparted tothe entire fabric. or only selected portions thereof as desired. Fabricconstructed in accordance with the present invention and mechanismadapted for use in carrying out the present method are 11- lustrated inthe accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective, diagrammatic view of one form of mechanism fortreating the fabric in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of another form of mechanism fortreating the fabric;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a modified construction associated with therolls shown in'Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a conventional showing of a piece of knitted fabric before ithas been treated in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. is a similar view of the fabric after it has been treated inaccordance with the present invention with either the mechanism shown inFig. 1 or Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a face view of the fabric of Fig. 4 after it has been treatedupon the mechanisms of Fig. 2.

The method of the present invention may be employed in treating knitted,woven, lace or other fabrics to render them elastic. If a woven fabricis used, it preferably should have an open weave so that the fabric maybe condensed to a large degree by crowding the strands thereof closelytogether; However, even closely woven fabric may have some elasticityimparted thereto by the present method.

If a knitted fabric is used it may be condensed in the general directionof either the courses or the wales and this will result in materiallyincreasing the stretch of the fabric. Thus fabrics can be produced withdifferent amounts of stretch in the two directions, varying fromapproin'mately equal stretch in each direction to a great deal ofstretch in one direction and practically none in the other.

In the drawing, the fabric is shown conventionally as a knitted fabrichaving the wales ll running lengthwise of the fabric as usual.

This fabric is shown in Fig. 1 as extendingfrom .clothor'other materialhaving a glazed face.

The fabric III in accordance with one feature of the present inventionis thoroughly wetted either before it is delivered to the table l3 orwhile resting thereupon so that-it will be softer and more flexible thanwhen dry. The wetting liquid, which may be water, or a diluted aqueoussolution, acts as a plasticizer and makes the fabric better conditionedfor the condensing operation. It also serves as an adhesive to retainthe fabric upon the table II) temporarily in its condensed or moldedcondition so that it may be treated with a rubber substance while inthis condition and yieldingly held by the rubber in the condensedcondition. When the water supplied to the fabric I0 is relied upon toadhesively hold the fabric upon the table in the molded or condensedcondition, it is important that the proper amount of water he providedas either too much or too little water makes the process diflicult tocarry out. The desired amount of water varies to some extent with thefabric and should be sufficient to render the fabric thoroughly wetwithout tending to cause the fabric to float upon the table. If desired,paste, glue or other forms of adhesives may be used in place of water totemporarily hold the fabric in its condensed condition.

The simple form of mechanism shown in Fig. 1 for condensing or otherwisedistorting the fabric may be operated by hand, and in accordance withthis aspect of the invention the wet fabric l0 while resting upon thetable I3 is acted upon by the inclined board or pusher M which isengaged with successive narrow transverse portions of the fabric toslide or crowd these portions forward. The fabric may be condensed bythe board M in a straight forward direction or t e bo rd may be movedforward at different angles to the length of the fabric to producepattern effects. The fabric is shown in Fig. 1 as having been condensedby moving the board forward first to the right and then to the left in adirection diagonally to the length of the fabric toimpart the wavyeffect to the fabric best shown in Fig. 5. This treatment of the fabricgives it a distinct striped appearance as indicated at l5. Other desiredornamental effects may, however, be imparted to the fabric by varyingthe type of movement that is imparted to the board I while condensingsuccessive portions of the fabric. This condensing operation may becarried out throughout the entire length of the table by starting at itsright hand end and working back step by step towards the roll II.

If the fabric Ill has been rendered sufliciently flexible and plastic bythe water treatment, then when the transverse portions of the fabric aresuccessively slid forward upon the table l3 and crowded together by theaction of the presser board H, they will be held in this condensed ormolded condition by the adhesive action of the water long enough toenable them to be secured in this condition by a rubber binder, to behereinafter more fully described. However, as above stated, otheradhesives than water may be used, but water has the advantage that it isreadily removed by drying the fabric, whereas if other adhesives areused they may be more diflicult to remove.

The effect of the action of the board It upon the fabric is to displacesmall, transverse sections thereof in flrst one direction and then theother, which imparts to the fabric the saw-tooth appearance at eachselvage edge, as shown. At the same time that these strips or transversesections of the fabric are being displaced laterally, they are beingslid forwardto a considerably greater degree to thereby condense thefabric in the direction of the wales.

After the wet fabric III has been condensed or molded, as shown at theright hand side of the board II, it may have sprayed or otherwisedeposited thereupon a rubber-containing fluid which, when the rubberbecomes set or vulcanized, will serve to maintain the fabric in acondensed condition, and will permit the fabric to stretch. Nozzles l6may serve to spray the rubbercontaining fluid upon the fabric so that itwill form either a porous or non-porous coating as desired, whereupon avulcanization of the rubber may be effected by heating the treatedfabric while it rests upon the table IS. The rubbercontaining fluid maybe an aqueous dispersion of rubber such as latex with or withoutcompounding and/0r vulcanizing ingredients and in either a vulcanized orunvulcanized condition of any degree, or a solvent rubber may be used,and the fluid may be applied to the fabric either before or after thelatter is condensed provided the rubber binding material remainsin aliquid condition until after the fabric is condensed. 'Preferably therubber-containing fluid takes the form of a vulcanizable latexcomposition, and where the fabric is to be utilized without doubling orplying, substantially complete vulcanization may be effected by the timethe treated fabric leaves the table l3 or the dryer (not shown) to whichthe fabric may be delivered from this table.

In Figure 2 is shown another type of apparatus for carrying out oneaspect of the method of the present invention. The construction of Fig.2 however. is ada ted to act upon the fabric continuously, whereas theconstruction of Fig. 1 is capable of acting upon the fabric onlyintermittently or step-by-step. In Figure 2 the fabric I1 to be treatedis supplied by the cloth roll from which it may pass into a water tankI! and around the rollers therein, and then out of the tank and over aroller 2| whereupon it may be delivered to the endless conveyor or apron22. This apron passes around the spaced rollers 22 and 24 in thedirection indicated by the arrows and the upper run of the apron passesbetween the cooperating rollers 25 and 25 which serve to condense thefabric l1. As the wet fabric is delivered to the upper run of the apron22 or to the nip of the rollers 25 and 26 the excess water may beremoved from the fabric by the cooperating rolls 21.

The lower supporting roller 25 has the same surface speed as the apron22 but the upper roller 26 is driven at a higher surface speed so thatit will act to slip or crowd the fabric 11 forward to condense thefabric. The condensed fabric rests upon the traveling apron 20 and maybe temporarily held in the condensed condition by the adhesive action ofthe water as above described. The fabric I1 may be conveyed by the apron22 beneath the nozzles 22 that spray a rubber-containing liquidthereupon which will serve as it coagulates or solidifies to yieldinglyretain the fabric in the condensed conditions. The nozzles 28 arepreferably arranged at an inclination to the fabric as shown so as tocoat-the upper face of the fabric without causing an excessivepenetration of the liquid into the fabric. The coated fabric may then beconducted by the apron 22 through the drying and vulcanizing chamber 29.

If the upper or fabric-condensing roller 25 is not moved in thedirection of its length while rotating it will condense the fabric in alengthwise direction as shown in Fig. 6 but will not produce stripedeffects. If, however, the roller 22 is moved axially back and forth asit rotates the fabric will be condensed in a zigzag or diagonaldirection alternately to the right and left as shown in Flg. 5. It willtherefore be seen that the machine of Fig. 2 may be employed to producethe striped effect of Fig. 5 if the upper roll is provided with meansfor shifting it back and forth in the direction of its length as itrotates.

Means for accomplishing this is shown in Fig, 3 wherein the lower roller22 is provided with a driving belt 3| and the upper roller 22 isprovided with the driving belt 22 that drives it at a faster surfacespeed than the roller 22. The upper roller 32 is shown as supported by asliding frame conslsting of the arms 24 iruvhich the roller is journaledand these arms are securedto the bar 25 which is slidably supported bythe brackets 26.

' ers 30 and 32 and the grooved wheel 21 the fabric roller so that itwill condense part but not all of the fabric passed thereunder.

It will beseen from the foregoing that by employing the construction ofFig. 2 fabric may be easily and quickly condensed in the direction ofits length, and that by employing the construction of Fig. 3 a distinctstriped effect may be imparted to the fabric as it is condensed, andthat by yieldingly securing the condensed fabric is the condensedcondition by the use of a rubber binder, a woven, knitted or othertextile fabric may be converted into an elastic fabric having asubstantial degree of stretch.

While the method of the present invention has been herein described asadapted to impart stretch to a fabric in the direction of its length,the fabric may be condensed in accordance with the present inventioneither longitudinally or transversely or both longitudinally andtransversely and then retained in this condition by the rubbertreatment.

Fabric treated by the present method may have imparted thereto acapacity to stretch which is two or more times that of the untreatedtextile fabric, and if the rubber binding material is applied only toone face of the fabric the other face will be free from rubber and willretain its textile appearance and feel. In some cases it may bedesirable to ply two sheets of this treated fabric with the two coatedfaces together so that no rubber will be noticed ,on the outside of thefinished fabric.

The present fabric is well adapted for use in corsets, girdles and otherelastic garments, and

- fabric in a direction to condense it by decreasing the distancebetween adjacent rows of threads, holding the fabric in the condensedcondition on the supporting surface by virtue of it being wet,

and treating the fabric with a rubber-containing fluid to yieldinglyretain it in this condition.

2. The method of making an elastic fabric, comprising the steps ofadhering a textile fabric composed of interconnected threads to asupporting surface with a liquid, exerting a sliding pressure uponsuccessive portions of the fabric to therebyslide some portions relativeto others upon the surface in opposition to the resistance of suchadherence so as to condense the fabric by reducing the distance betweenadjacent rows of the threads, and treating the fabric with arubber-containing material to retain the fabric yieldingly in thecondensed condition.

3. The method of making an elastic fabric comprising the steps oftemporarily adhering a textile fabric composed of interconnected threadsto a supporting surface with a liquid, exerting a sliding pressure onthe fabric to slide the fabric upon the surface in opposition to theadherence and thereby condense the fabric by decreasing the distancebetween adjacent rows thereof and also to shift portions thereof indifferent directions to produce a pattern effect,'and yieldingly bindingthe partsrof the fabric in this shifted position with arubber-containing material. 7

4. The method of making patterned elastic fabric comprising the steps ofsecuring a textile sively to selected areas of the fabric and not toother areas, said pressure having components acting perpendicular to thesurface of the fabric and in the direction of the supporting surface andother components acting parallel to the surface of the fabric so as toslide the fabric along the supporting surface against the resistance ofthe-liquid film and thereby condense the fabric by crowding the threadsextending transversely to the direction of the latter components closertogether andrelax the threads extending in the direction of suchcomponents, holding the textile fabric in its condensed condition on thesupporting surface by the liquid film, applying a rubber containingfluid to the/surface of the fabric opposite to the side on which is theliquid film, treating said rubber containing fluid to deposit the rubbertherefrom and convert it into an elastic medium which is capable ofyieldingly retaining said fabric in its condensed condition by theadherence of the rubber thereto, and removing the fabric with the rubberadhered thereto from the supporting surface.

5. The method of making an elastic fabric comprising the steps ofsecuring a textile fabric to a supporting surface with. a film of liquidinterposed between the fabric and the supporting surface, moving saidsupporting surface underneath a roll, running the roll in contact withthe textile fabric in the direction of the movement of the supportingsurface along the lines of contact and at a greater surface speed thanthe movement of the supporting surface and thereby moving the textilefabric along the surface against the resistance of the liquid film andcondensing it by crowding the threads thereof extending transversely tothe direction of'rotation of the roll closer together and relaxing thethreads extending in the direction of such rotation; holding the textilefabric in its condensed condition on the supporting surface by theliquid film, applying a rubber containing fluid to the surface of thefabric opposite to the side on which is the liquid fllm, treating saidrubber containing fluid to deposit the" rubber therefrom and convert itinto an elastic medium which is capable of yieldingly retaining saidfabric in its condensed condition by the adherence of the rubberthereto, and removing the fabric with the rubber adhered thereto fromthe supporting surface.

6. The method of making an elastic fabric comprising the steps ofsecuring a textile fabric to a supporting surface with a film of liquidinterposed between the fabric and the supporting surface, applyingpressure to the fabric having components acting perpendicular to thesurface of the fabric in the direction of the supporting surface andother components acting parallel to the surface of the fabric, saidpressure being applied so that the latter components are progressivelyapplied over some areas in a given direction and over areas at an anglethereto in the same general direction to shift the areas of the fabricin respect to one another, holding the textile fabric in its shiftedpositions on the supporting surface by the liquid film, applying arubber-containing fluid to the surface of the fabric opposite to theside on which is the liquid film, treating said rubber containing fluidto deposit the rubber therefrom and convert it into an elastic mediumwhich is capable of yieldingly retaining said fabric in its shiftedcondition by the adherence of the rubber thereto, and removing thefabric with the rubber adhered thereto from the supportingsurface.

THOMAS G. HAWLEY, JR.

